20 Amps Through 14 Gauge Romex Wire.

That information can be found on the Internet, like here. And, being your asking a question like this, it seems like your already over your skill limitations. You can cause fires and possibly kill someone by lack of knowledge and skills. A home's electrical wiring is not the proper place to do a smoke test on a wire's carrying capabilities.

i appreciate your imput, but i was hoping for an answer, not a sermon.

Sorry, but a sermon is what you deserve. I'm just hoping that the sermons you get here don't turn into a eulogy for you and your family. Replacing a 15 ampere circuit breaker with a 20 ampere breaker is a recipe for disaster.

Depending on the wiring conditions 17 amperes is the nominal maximum safe rating for new 14 gauge wire. (Don't get your hopes up at the word "nominal", any change from the code rating lowers the safe operating current.) Your home was wired by somebody that just barely met wiring code for a 15 ampere breaker.

I know that it's hot today and that you'd love to add an air conditioner to your home. I'm sorry that you cannot just plug the air conditioner you bought into the existing wiring in your house. DO NOT ALTER THE WIRING OF YOUR HOME.

the thing is that i've never had this problem until recently. i was hoping that someone would blame it on the push-in plugs on the back of my outlets. i've seen 12 gauge wire pop out of these things. talk about a fire hazzard!. how do they get this junk certified? thesr's not even an option to hook them up with the screws. hell, they don't even have screws on them. don't these type of things have to be approve by the underwriter's labratory?

There was a time that knife edge only outlets were legal in the US. I don't believe they're legal now. I'm not going to guess or slight who or what group insisted that these outlets should be legal. Your house wiring was apparently assembled during this era. Despite my earlier "holier than though" attitude about doing your own house wiring, I do recommend that you replace all of these knife edge outlets with screw terminal outlets. Don't forget the normal safety protocol of turning OFF the power at the breaker before removing the cover plate and test before you touch.

Buy a handful of outlets, with screws they're cheap.

you could temp a solution, buy some #12, add a 20 amp breaker hook up a temporary outlet until the electrician can get to you

it won't be legal, but it will be safe...

if the ac has a regular end on it, 15amp circuit. there could be exceptions

2011 NEC still rates

AWG 14 at 15 Amps

AWG 12 at 20 Amps

AWG 10 at 30 Amps

Not alot has changes thrugh the years.

a good rule of thumb is that a 100 watt bulb pulls .84 amps or use i =e divided by r which is ohms law----if it kicks the ---wire too small --heat on small wire transfers back to breaker and it kicks out ---bigger wire is the answer.

"i appreciate your imput, but i was hoping for an answer, not a sermon."

If you don't want the sermon, stay out of the church.

i'm old enough to remember when engineering did'nt seem like a liberal art. these days everyone wants to give me personally advise from, how i should raise kids. to telling me to stop smoking. if i need preaching to, i'll go to church , and if i'm concerned about my heath,i 'll see my doctor. otherwise, i'll stick with common sense.

you want an answer.. here it is!

Get a certified electrician in to solve your problem, you will sleep better knowing that your house is safe, your insurance company will pay up if there is fire and your family is safe.

It wasn't a sermon you got is was sound advice.....

People here in CR4 will advise you, but I to am of the opinion you are in WAY over your head.. therefore any advice will not only confuse you, but not be fully understood as you don't have the right skills & education to carry out the advice.

Please remember you came here asking the question, it doesn't mean you are going like the reply, especially if it doesn't fit in with your way of thinking or the reply you were hoping for!

Be smart, be safe!

get larger wire --probably # 10

How many inches long is the wire?

it's about 40' long and has 8 outlets

I was going to ask the same question, but I didn't want to get the OP hopes up

In the U.S. NEC (National Electrical Code), I think it is Article 310 that gives wire ampacities under various conditions (number of wires in conduit/cable; location, such as in free air or buried; ambient temperature; type of insulation; etc.) Although the theoretical ampacity may be higher than 15A, I think there is a footnote that limits the overcurrent protection to 15A for general wiring.

This is off the top of my head, so be sure to consult all relevant tables and notes.

thanks for the info. i'm only running a 10,000 btu ac, a 250 watt bulb and a computer on this circuit. i was kicking the 15 amp breaker when i turned on the ac. i bought a new 15 amp breaker and it still kicks off. all the outlets are type where the wires push into the back. do you think i should change the outlets? i moved the line over to a 20 amp breaker, but i'm not sleeping very well.

Do you have a wattage or amperage rating for the A/C unit? (This is the largest load on the described circuit.) It is a motor, and its starting current is the likely cause of tripping the breaker. If possible, it should probably have its own dedicated circuit (which might even be required, but I'm not sure.) If you have a clip-around ammeter, you can check what the total circuit draws when all items are running.

no, the wattage is listed on the inside of the unit. it's an efficent md.

Oh I'd just love to hear what the wattage claims. Oh, please do tell us.

i agree with you.and have been trying to have a licenced eletiction to come out to do the work. it's been 105 degrees here latelyt i can't get an electrition out here for two weeks. i've been baby sitting my ac unit an my wiring. it get's turned off if i'm in bed or out. it's just a a stop gap measure for now.

DJ95401, you would be right in the money if it was a heater. However, a relatively new 10,000 BTU window AC unit takes about 1000 to 1200 watts, or about 8 to 10 amps. Throw in the light and the PC and you are about 14 to 16 amps. Keep in mind that does not include the unit start up.

Soooo..... OP: take everything else off this circuit including the light (unscrew it or turn it off), put the PC on different circuit and try running the unit to see if it still trips. If not, you have a work around until a sparky comes over. If it does trip try to find a 20 A circuit you can use until you get it fixed. If all the above fails stick your bare feet in some cold water.

Hi Jonathan, I don't mind being corrected, that's why I said, feel free to correct me. Those numbers I used were off the top of my head from when I was doing HVAC work some 30 years ago. I still think there's more to this story than what was being told. Like most questions we see here on CR4, a lot of important info. is usually left out of the question. So with out the data plate specs. I hedged on the safe side. Which still doesn't explain why his unit still trips a 20amp breaker if it's only drawing approx. 10amps. If he had supplied the data plate info, my numbers would have probably been different. I just hope the OP realizes, what he is doing or trying to do, is extremely dangerous. Cheers, DJ

An amp meter with peak starting amperage and voltage would tell the true story. But most people don't have access to these or know how to use them. A hard start kit might be just what the doctor ordered. With light information it's hard to give a definitive answer to a lot of questions.

I may be able to shed some light on why this circuit trips out despite the spec suggesting differeently. If the branch circuit wiring is #14 AWG there is more voltage drop associated with the start surge compared to using #12 Ga. This voltage drop causes the inductive load <motor> to pull more current than normal. This will cause the breaker to trip. If it is a thermal breaker sitting in a hot environment < heat wave> it will trip even sooner than rated .

Actually it should be a 10/3 he needs to have the ground as well.

10/2 has 2 wires and a ground, 10/3 has 3 wires and a ground and is used for 3 phase circuits, usually commercial.

Welcome to CR4 John,

10/3 is also used with residential clothes dryers requiring 240 volt 'single phase' 4 prong plugs and receptacles in the U.S.

thanks for the info. you convienced me. i was trying to take the easy way out. thanks again

What does the name plate on the ac unit say?

assuming the stuff I found that indicates a draw of around 10 amp is true

I've run into problems on more than one occasion with wires pushed into the quick connection outlets

most notably a house where the lights in 1/2 [one phase] would dim everytime the refrigerator would run

I always use the screw terminals

Turn off the breaker

rewire every outlet on the circuit in question

find a different place to plug in the light 250w = 2amp & computer = 1.5 amp

I would like to find a 10,000Btu AC unit that only drew 10amps on 120volts! I despise those quick connects, the only thing they good for, is when your doing piece work the construction trade. DJ

10 amp? Where did you get 10 amp from. The 10,000 BTU (per hour) has already been calculated to be almost 3kW if 100% efficiency is achieved. This means a 25+ ampere draw with single phase 117 VAC power.

Wait a minute, I forgot that there's the fact that the air exchange acting as a heat sink is another energy source in this operation. This relationship is handled by the SEER, EER or COP rating of the air conditioner that needs to be known to convert the BTU to electric watts drawn. So this unit might only require the 10 amperes you cite. The air conditioner in question might not be as efficient as the one you found and draw 14 amperes while running and 19 to start.

It still is a good idea to separate a computer from a large current drawing motor like an air conditioner. It is still a horrible idea to change a 15 ampere breaker to a 20 ampere breaker without upgrading the wires. Now a slow trip 15 ampere breaker might accept the higher but brief starting cycle current. What would quickly settle all concerns is a clamp on ammeter or the air conditioner's electric wattage rating. The quick connection knife edges may be a contributing factor, too.

Ah - sorry Red, just got down to your post. Seems I sort of 'plagerised' - but nice to see we got to the same place. Maybe makes us a 'gang'

If you're running an AC unit you should be using 12 awg or better. 14 awg is not sufficient for a 20 A breaker. Also a dedicated circuit is recommended for your AC unit and NEVER run AC on the same circuit as your computer.

I'd get a long screw and screw the breaker to it's "ON" position, that way it can't cause nuisance trips. While you're at it you might rewire the house with aluminum wiring.

Do you have a Fire Extinguisher ??? It could start when you are sleeping. wire gets hotter and hotter and by that time you and your loved ones could be all asleep from the nice cool air, and never wake up again.

I would NEVER pull the same amount of amp as listed on the breaker, some times the breakers Don't work either.

fredski, when did you become a smart ass. i've always liked your answers. short, sweet and to the point.

You can't be serious all the time!

What on earth is the 250 watt bulb for?

Should we shed some light on the subject for you?

an out door sodium light.

the unit is rated to move 10,000 BTU per hour. As a heat pump between 105F and 70F, if it has performance rating of 3:1 it will use 3333 BTU worth of electric power and thus the claims of 25-30 amps might be excessive. An electric resistance heater at 10,000 BTU/Hr is going to use 2.93 KWH each hour it runs at 120 VAC = 24.16 Amps.

That plus the 250W light and your computer would make it close to 30 Amps, but it is not a heater....

An air conditioner rated at 3 would use 1/3rd that amount ~8 Amps.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coefficient_of_performance

No.

First; move your computer and the light bulb off the circuit. Next figure what the air-conditioner will draw alone. A 10000 BTU air conditioner can draw as much as 5000 watts on start up and require 1500 watts to run. This depends on the seer rating. Divide the BTU/efficiency rating=watts/120v=amps. Over 15? Run a 12GA wire for the air. The answer to your question is a simple one. No.

Not in a zone 0 potentially explosive atmosphere.....

Time to Remove this post, getting too stupid.

NO!

I hope you are kidding, if your not, you'd be a fool to try it.

NO

NO